“Marco,” she heard Medea cry out from the other side of the room. “I knew you’d come for me.”
“Marco?” Rapunzel sprang off the bed to see Marco climbing in through the open window. She rushed across the room and pushed Medea out of the way and fell into his arms. Immediately, she realized her mistake. By the coldness of his skin and dense, dark energy around him, she realized it was Hecuba still in Marco’s shapeshifting form.
Medea started laughing uncontrollably as Hecuba shifted back into her own form. Rapunzel jumped back, really feeling like retching now. “You knew it was your mother and you wanted to trick me, didn’t you?” she asked Medea.
“It was funny to see you throw yourself into my mother’s arms. Too bad you didn’t kiss her.”
“It’s not funny.” Rapunzel slashed her arm through the air and sent Medea sprawling across the ground. Medea’s eyes turned black as she repaid the favor. Rapunzel ended up on the ground as well.
“Stop it, both of you,” said Hecuba. “And get up off the floor. Don’t you know there is a battle going on?”
“What did you learn, Mother?” asked Medea, standing up and brushing off her new gown that she’d manifested. She still thought she was going to kiss Marco today, even though Rapunzel knew it was the furthest thing from the truth.
“They thought I was Marco,” Hecuba said with a chuckle. “It worked beautifully. I learned not only their plan of attack but also that your brother, Hugh, is in his wolf form. Lucio is waiting at the lake, hoping Marco will arrive on the dragon at the last minute.”
“Marco’s coming?” asked Medea.
“Nay,” said the witch. “He was unable to summon the dragon again after our little encounter yesterday. It seems both Marco and his father stayed behind sulking. This is going to be easier than I thought. We have the upper hand now. With the dragon and your powers as well, Medea, we will be able to conquer them all.”
“I’m not sure I want to help after you shunned me and told me to stay here earlier,” the girl fretted.
“Now that I know how easy this will be, there is no need for you to stay behind.” Hecuba seemed to be in a much better mood now.
“I’m not going to help you.” Medea was her usual stubborn self.
“Medea, you will do what I say,” threatened her mother.
“You’d better get going, Mother. It sounds like the battle has started without you.”
Rapunzel heard the sounds of men shouting, horses neighing, and swords clashing from below. The knot in her stomach became tighter. Where was Marco? Had he really abandoned her at a time like this?”
“I need to command the dragon,” said Hecuba, glancing out the window. “Medea, I will deal with you, later.”
Hecuba dissipated into thin air, leaving Medea and Rapunzel behind.
“I see my dragon,” Marco’s father called out excitedly from behind Marco as they glided through the air atop the red dragon. “Let me down, Son. I need to command it before Hecuba wins it over.”
“Do you want me to stay and help you, Father?” Marco wasn’t at all sure his father was up to this yet. One more attack of pity or self-doubt and this whole plan could backfire on them.
“Nay, you have to rescue Rapunzel and break her curse. Let me down here and be on your way.”
Marco didn’t feel confident about leaving his father on his own. However, this was something that the man had to do by himself. He was right in saying Marco had another task to attend to.
After dropping off his father, Marco lifted off into the sky, seeing the battle of hundreds of men below him. A wolf darted out from a cluster of trees and took down one of Hecuba’s men and then another. Marco was sure that was Rapunzel’s brother in his shapeshifting form.
As he flew overhead, he spotted the rest of the de Bar brothers, fighting hard to make it closer to the tower. Swords clashed, ringing out as warrior fought warrior and the battle was in full swing.
As Marco flew closer to the castle, he saw Lucio de Bar holding on to Hecuba as they struggled near the lake. The blue dragon rose up and headed out to the area where Marco had left his father.
“Del Rossi, I knew you’d come,” shouted Lucio, looking up and smiling.
“Nay! Stay away from here,” yelled Hecuba, still in Lucio’s grip.
“Go,” commanded Lucio. “I’ll hold off the old crone.”
“That’s a fine way to speak about the mother of your child.” Hecuba broke loose, throwing a ball of fire at Lucio who grabbed it and threw it back at her.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Marco directed his dragon to the tower. “We have work to do, and no time to waste,” he said aloud.
“It’s him,” cried out Medea, anxiously staring out the window. The sound of men shouting and screaming and weapons clashing filled the air.
“Don’t think I’ll fall for your trick again.” Rapunzel sat at her dressing table gazing into the mirror, astounded at the dark circles under her eyes. She had never looked or felt so tired in all her life.
“It’s Marco,” announced Medea. “He’s here on the dragon, and he’s going to kiss me.”
“Go ahead and kiss him,” she said, figuring it was only Hecuba disguised as Marco again. In the reflection of the mirror, she saw the tail of a dragon as it whizzed past the window.
“Rapunzel, come to the window. It’s me, Marco,” she heard.
Now, the witch was getting in on the act, not only looking but also sounding like Marco. Well, Rapunzel didn’t like to be tricked, so she did nothing to move at all.
“Marco, I am eighteen now, and you have to kiss me,” shouted Medea. She hoisted herself up to the window sill, holding out her arms. She sure was going to extremes to try to trick Rapunzel again. Rapunzel tired of her little game, and walked over and plopped down on the bed, not wanting to even look.
“Rapunzel, I see you in there. Hurry, I came to rescue you.” It was a little odd that the witch was taking the time for a game in the midst of a battle. Rapunzel turned her head to look, seeing a dragon fly past the window again with Marco seated atop it.
Her initial instinct was to run to him and tell him she was ready to go, but she also didn’t want to be made a fool of again. Spying Hecuba’s hand mirror on the table, she realized the witch had left it behind. Rapunzel got up and made her way to the table. Medea kept shouting to Marco and reaching out to him while Marco kept flying past the window calling out to Rapunzel.
“We’ll see about this,” she said, taking the mirror and heading over to the window. Her long braid that had grown even longer lately dragged behind her. She held up the hand mirror and turned her back to the window, waiting for Marco to ride past again.
The mirror was magic. If it were Hecuba in disguise, she would know it. Then, to her shock, she looked into the mirror and saw no one atop the dragon as it flew past the window again. She would be able to see Hecuba in her true form. But since Marco was a Dragon Lord, he couldn’t be seen in the mirror.
“Marco!” she cried out, tucking the hand mirror under her belt and running to the window. “Marco, I am here.” She climbed up to the sill and stood next to Medea.
“Get out of here,” said Medea. “He’s mine.”
“Over my dead body.”
“That can be arranged.”
Rapunzel had to do something quickly. Marco was approaching on the dragon again, and this might be her last chance to be rescued. There was no way she was going to let Medea ruin it. She waited until Marco came close, and then she used her powers to shove Medea off the sill and back into the room. Medea landed at the other side of the room, which gave Rapunzel the time she needed to escape.
She held out her arms, waiting. When Marco zipped past again, she jumped, and he caught her. He held her tightly, keeping her safe on the back of the dragon.
“That wasn’t a smart thing to do,” he told her, giving her a quick kiss. “What if I wouldn’t have caught you?”
“I had total faith in you. I knew you’d
catch me. I wasn’t worried.”
All of a sudden, Rapunzel was almost yanked off the dragon. If she hadn’t been in Marco’s arms, she could have fallen to her death.
“It’s Medea,” said Marco, holding her tightly, looking downward.
The intense pain in Rapunzel’s head felt unbearable. Her long braid trailed behind them as they rode on the dragon through the sky. And hanging on to the end of the braid was Medea.
“Let go, Medea,” Rapunzel called out, holding on to her braid so her hair wouldn’t be pulled from her head.
“Nay, Marco made me a promise.” Medea quickly started climbing up the braid like she was using a rope. The girl had tremendous strength to do this and not fall off in the process.
“God’s teeth, that girl is persistent,” said Marco, looking down and shaking his head. “Mayhap if I kiss her she’ll leave us alone.”
“You can’t be serious,” grumbled Rapunzel gripping her hair as Marco held on to her. Medea was becoming very heavy.
“I did promise,” he pointed out. “And I am not a man who breaks his word.”
“If you kiss her, she’ll never leave you alone. She already has fantasies of marrying you and having your baby.”
“Oh. I suppose that wouldn’t be a good idea then. But what are we going to do with her?”
“I wish I would have brought the shears. I’d cut her out of my hair in one snip.”
“Rapunzel, she is your sister.”
“Half-sister.”
“It doesn’t matter. You can’t really want her dead.”
“I suppose not,” she said with a sigh, wishing for a break from Medea. “I don’t want her to be hurt, so we have to help her.” She glanced into the hand mirror and saw something in the sky. “What is that above us?” she asked.
Marco looked up and saw his father on the back of the blue dragon. Lucio rode behind him.
“Father,” Marco called out and smiled. So, it seemed his father had his confidence as well as his dragon back after all.
“You did it, Marco. You rescued Rapunzel and also broke the curse,” his father shouted out from above him.
Marco had hoped by getting Rapunzel’s feet off the ground it would sever her connection with the earth and her curse would be broken. But by the looks of her long braid, it hadn’t worked.
“Nay. It didn’t work, Father. Rapunzel is still cursed,” he called out.
“Get her hair off the ground,” shouted Lucio.
Marco looked over the side of the dragon to realize Rapunzel’s braid was very long. Medea was halfway up the braid, but the end of Rapunzel’s hair still dragged on the ground.
“Hold on, Rapunzel,” he said, directing his dragon higher. As soon as it climbed higher, Rapunzel gasped.
“My hair.”
Marco looked down to her long braid disappearing right before their eyes. Medea screamed, making him realize the braid was disappearing in her grip.
“Oh, no,” said Marco. “The curse might be broken, but now Medea is going to fall.”
“Do something, Marco,” cried Rapunzel. “She is my sister, I can’t let her die.”
“We’ve got her,” called out his father, directing his dragon below Marco’s. Lucio reached out and grabbed Medea just as Rapunzel’s long braid disappeared.
“Daughter,” said Lucio, cradling Medea in his arms.
“Father?” Medea said in a meek voice. Lucio leaned forward and kissed the girl on the cheek. But before anything else could happen, a green dragon swooped through the air and snatched Medea from Lucio.
Lucio screamed. “Hecuba, bring my daughter back to me.”
Marco chuckled as he watched the green dragon heading out over the water with Medea hanging on for dear life.
“What’s so funny?” asked Rapunzel.
“I was just thinking. Medea finally got her kiss and her ride on a dragon after all, even if it wasn’t from me.”
Rapunzel laughed, too. “I don’t think she is going to be very happy come tomorrow morning.”
“Mayhap not, but I think I will be a very happy man. Your curse is broken, Rapunzel.”
“Yes, it is,” she said, tugging on what was left of her braid. It only came to her waist. “I think the first thing I’ll do is cut the rest of this off. Mayhap, I’ll shave my head entirely.”
“Don’t do that. I like your hair. Just leave the rest there.”
“If that’s what you want, then that is what I’ll do.”
Marco kissed her as they soared through the air on the back of his dragon.
“Son, go home and take Rapunzel with you,” called out his father as he flew past.
“What about the battle?” asked Marco. “I might be needed.”
“I’ve got it handled,” said Lucio. “I’ll pull out my troops. As soon as the other army realizes Hecuba has abandoned them, they’ll leave as well.”
“How do we know if she’s really abandoned them or if she’ll be back?” asked Marco.
“I’ll tell you,” said Rapunzel, slipping the magic mirror from her belt and gazing into it.
“You know how to use that?” asked Marco.
“There is one way to find out. I have powers now so, mayhap, I can spy on Hecuba using this mirror the way she used it to spy on everyone else.”
Rapunzel looked into the mirror and chuckled.
“What do you see?” asked Marco, peering over her shoulder to see a clearing fog in the mirror. He saw someone in it, but it was blurred to him.
“I see Medea and Hecuba arguing and throwing bolts of energy at each other somewhere in the woods. By the look of anger on Medea’s face, I think it is safe to say they won’t be back anytime soon.”
“That’s all I needed to hear,” said Marco. “Now, let’s get you out of here and back where you belong.”
“Are you taking me to the hovel?” asked Rapunzel.
“For now,” he said. “But in the morning, I will marry you, and also find a home suitable for my new family.”
Chapter 25
The next morning
This was the day that Rapunzel had been dreaming of her entire life. It was her wedding day. She stood at the edge of the lake with her sisters-in-law, Red, Freya, Bonnibel, and Olivia. They had been brought here from their castles by Freya and Lucio who were able to transport.
Rapunzel wore a beautiful, purple gown with a large, purple flower made of lace on her head instead of a veil. She kept her braid that trailed down past her waist because Marco had said he liked it. The girls helped her weave small roses into it. She held one red rose in her hand that Marco had given her this morning.
“You look beautiful, Rap,” said her brother, Wolf. Arnon, Kin, and Stefan came to join them.
“Aye,” agreed Stefan, the eldest of the siblings. “I can’t believe our baby sister is finally getting married.”
“I wish Ella and MacKay could be here, too.” After being lonely for so long in her tower prison, Rapunzel wanted to surround herself with as many people as she could. She especially wanted to spend time with her siblings and those she loved. It was odd, but in a way she missed Medea. The girl was troublesome and had a dark side to her, but Rapunzel had seen the light within her as well. Rapunzel had actually enjoyed being a big sister for the first time in her life.
“MacKay has taken his men up to the Highlands,” Kin told her.
“Whatever for?” she asked.
“A soldier saw Ella headed here and came to the castle to tell us,” said Arnon.
“Hecuba,” she said, shaking her head. “I am sure it was naught but a trick.”
“Why would you say that?” asked Wolf.
“Because I forgot to tell you, I saw Ella.”
“Father, Rap has seen Ella.” Kin waved his father over.
“Ella? She’s here?” asked Lucio excitedly.
“I don’t know exactly where she is,” admitted Rapunzel. “It was a vision conjured up by Hecuba.”
“So, she could be in the Highl
ands after all,” said Stefan.
“No matter where she is, she doesn’t remember any of us.” This thought filled Rapunzel with sadness. It was like losing not one, but two sisters. She might never see Ella or Medea again.
“What do you mean?” asked Arnon.
“Hecuba has cursed her with the loss of her memory. Cinderella doesn’t even know who she is.”
“Then, we’ll have to find her quickly,” said Lucio. “If not, Hecuba could convince her she is anyone at all. I wonder what the old witch and my daughter, Medea, are up to right now.”
“Where’s the mirror?” asked Kin. “Let’s look into it and find out.”
Marco cleared his throat, and they all parted to let him through. “Before anyone does anything, I cannot wait a moment longer to marry Rapunzel. I don’t want her birthing a bastard child when I am the father.”
Arnon laughed. “Marco, the baby is far from being born, what’s your rush?”
“Aye, but I’ve seen Medea grow up eighteen years in eighteen days, so I’m not going to rule anything out.”
“Medea,” said Lucio shaking his head. “I held my daughter for only a moment. I would have liked to have gotten to know her.”
“Father, we’ll check the magic mirror to see where she is once we marry,” Rapunzel told him. “But right now, all that matters to me is that I’m home again, and about to marry the man I love.”
“Aye. About that . . .” said Lucio, clearing his throat.
Rapunzel’s eyes darted upward. “Father, please don’t tell me you won’t let me marry Marco.”
“Aye,” said Marco. “Lord de Bar, please, let me marry your daughter.”
“Rapunzel always wanted to marry a rich, titled nobleman, and I can’t disappoint her,” Lucio announced.
“But I love Marco,” cried out Rapunzel. “I don’t care if he is not all those things.”
“Well, I do,” said Lucio sternly.
“De Bar, my son is noble, even though he isn’t titled.” Marco’s father stepped in to give his opinion. “Plus, he is a Dragon Lord, even though he is not a knight and doesn’t have a castle or money. But that is my fault from my past mistakes. Don’t hold it against him.”
Lady in the Tower [Rapunzel] Page 17
